Day-Brightening Painted Stones Tutorial

Once in a while, it’s nice to just “zone out” and do a little DIY project. If that DIY project can actually be put to good use, well, even better! If you’re on Pinterest, I’m sure you’ve seen painted stones before; it’s a trend that’s taking the creatively-inclined by storm. At first, I reacted to the concept with a “But … why?” And yet, after months and months of painted stones popping up in my feed, I found myself giving in, painting rocks, and liking it. A lot. Furthermore, I came up with a few practical uses, which I will enumerate at the end of this blog post.

For now, here’s a supply list of what you’ll need for this painted stones tutorial:

• Stones or pebbles of any size
• Gesso or white acrylic paint
• Medium-sized brush
• Permanent marker
• Colored markers {optional}
• Fixative spray {optional}

Begin by gathering a few stones or pebbles from outside; I started with a handful of medium-small stones.

It’s difficult to get paint to stick to dirty stones, so you’ll want to rinse your stones off either outside or in the sink. Once you wash them off, make sure you allow them a few minutes to completely dry! Paint also doesn’t react well to damp stones.

Once your stones are dry, paint them with white acrylic paint. You can switch it up and use a different color of paint if you’d prefer, but white gives you a broad range of possibilities as far as the art you can create on the stones.

I put two coats of paint on both sides of each stone.

When the paint on the stones has completely dried, pull out your fine-tipped permanent marker. I am using a black permanent marker by Tombow, but any brand of permanent marker will work! As a side note, you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches by using a marker {/markers} — versus a paint brush + paint — to put designs on these stones. I tried painting designs on, and the surface was too rough to allow clean lettering/illustration.

Which designs you use on your stones is completely a matter of personal preference! I’m showing you mine for inspiration, but you should feel free to decorate your stones in any way that pleases you. I, personally, decided to create stones with a message. For the first stone, I wrote “have” using faux calligraphy in the Kaitlin Style.

You may want to add decorative elements to your stones as well. I used the techniques outlined in the DIY Flower Confetti Tutorial to create a small cluster of roses with Tombow dual brush pens. {You could use any colored marker, though; my trusty Tombows are just what I had at hand.}

Next, I used the Garamond font from Hand-Lettering for a Latté to create an “a”. I drew a simpler variation of the “Julius Caesar” laurel wreath from the 10 Ways to Draw Laurel Wreaths post to frame the letter.

“Very Good” was created using the Sans Serif font from Hand-Lettering for a Latté and a hand-drawn banner. A few simple blue branches and leaves add visual symmetry to the artwork.

My last rock with a message is “day”, which I created using Amy Style calligraphy {worksheet coming soon!}. I drew simple sunflowers on this stone:

You can, of course, create rocks that simply showcase a design. For example, I created one stone with a multi-size rose motif:

Once I was finished with all my rocks, I sprayed them with a fixative. This is optional, but it does help to keep the rocks weatherproof. {Clear spray paint would work as well; just don’t use anything that needs to be brushed on [e.g. gloss medium] as it will more than likely smudge your designs.}

When put together, the rocks complemented each other very well! My “practical” application was returning the rocks to the front yard of our apartment. I thought it would be a nice little treat for our neighbors as well as people who are just walking by. You might consider showcasing your own rocks in a surprising way like this, in a place where people who “look a little closer” will be pleasantly rewarded!

Here are some other suggestions for showcasing your new creations:

• Use them as part of a display on a surface in your home; maybe instead of writing a message, you could paint various “zen” patterns {like henna motifs} on them. If you have light-colored rocks, it’s not necessary to paint them first.
• If you’re manning an outside event {e.g. at a marathon or a festival}, use the rocks as paper weights to hold flyers or informational sheets down.
• Use decorated rocks in the bottom of a vase. If you do this, I would recommend choosing light-colored stones and not painting them. Upon decorating them with a permanent marker, make sure you spray a waterproof fixative on!
• Use your painted stones to spruce up the soil of potted plants.
• If you are homeowner, decorate a few larger rocks {you can paint them first or leave them “naked”}, then cement them into a path or disperse them throughout a garden.

I am sure I have missed a few great utilization ideas for these painted stones; but this should get you started in brainstorming! If you have any other usage suggestions, please feel free to comment. I hope that you enjoyed reading this short and sweet tutorial as much as I liked writing it; and I would like to sincerely thank you again for following this blog. I so appreciate it!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Warmly,